Chef Ann Foundation Awards 43 Grants to 18 School Districts Across U.S. to Transition to Bulk Milk
Serving milk in bulk instead of single-serve containers eliminates a top source of school food waste
Ephrata Area School District is a grant recipient of the Chef Ann Foundation (CAF), who awarded 43 grants to 18 K–12 school districts across the U.S. as part of its Bulk Milk program.
EASD received the equipment, materials, and training resources needed to implement a bulk milk serving system at Ephrata High School.
According to CAF, milk is one of the biggest sources of food waste at schools across the country. USDA guidelines for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs require schools to offer milk with every lunch or breakfast served. Most schools serve milk in either a single-use carton or plastic bottle.
“With more than 31 million lunches and 13 million breakfasts served every day, year after year, milk packaging waste is staggering,” CAF CEO Mara Fleishman said. “Food waste also comes from the milk students don’t drink. With bulk milk systems, students can pour themselves what they want.”
Approximately 45 million gallons of milk is wasted at schools each year. Wasted milk means the environmental and financial resources that went into producing, transporting, cooling, and storing the milk are wasted too. With a bulk milk system, schools could save 30 pounds of carbon dioxide per student — the equivalent of taking 145,000 gas-powered vehicles off the road each year.
While eliminating a top source of school food waste is a primary goal of CAF’s Bulk Milk program, there are other benefits. Purchasing milk in bulk costs less than purchasing milk in individual containers. Bulk milk also stays at a constant cold temperature, increasing shelf life. Less packaging also means less waste disposal costs.
“Switching to bulk milk saves schools money,” Fleishman said. “We’re encouraging schools to put these savings toward switching to serving organic milk that, if possible, is produced locally. These changes help protect students’ health and the environment from exposure to agricultural chemicals.”
Bulk Milk grants have been awarded to the following districts:
- St. Michael Indian School, AZ
- Pajaro Valley Unified School District, CA
- Los Gatos Union School District, CA
- Tahoe Truckee Unified School District, CA
- Durango School District, CO
- Greeley-Evans School District 6, CO
- Hanover School District No. 28, CO
- Lake County School District R-1, CO
- Caroline County Public Schools, MD
- Jackson Public Schools, MI
- Ithaca City School District, NY
- Dryden Central School District, NY
- Ephrata Area School District, PA
- Trenton Special School District, TN
- Franklin Special School District, TN
- Austin Independent School District, TX
- Windham Central Supervisory Union, VT
- Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools, WI
Chef Ann Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working to ensure that school food professionals have the resources, funding, and support they need to provide fresh, delicious, scratch-cooked meals that support the health of children and our planet. To date, the organization has reached more than 14,000 schools and 3.4 million kids with healthy school food programming.